The spatialities of childhood and the role of play in geography

Abstract

The child is a historical and social subject and holds the status of a re(producer) of geographical space. One of the ways chindren produce spatialities is through play. This theoretical and argumentative review article is based on the premise of understanding what play means to children, drawing on a psychoanalytic perspective. It examines the relationship between chindren and space, exploring how the process of appropriation and constitution of spatialities occurs. The article revisits the concepts of the Geography of Childhood and presents arguments regarding children’s spatial experiences. Such an approach is particularly relevant given the need to include children’s perspectives in geographical studies. Through their actions, children produce territories and re-signify space, and play assumes a central role in this context. Childhood, as a social construction, is always multiple, just as children´s spatialities founded on play are diverse. Within their diversity, children construct imagined spaces that often become incomprehensible to the accustomed adult gaze.